There exists technologies which perform various processes using depth data on stereoscopic images (stereo images) formed from a right-eye image and a left-eye image obtained from different viewpoints.
In a case in which a stereoscopic image is processed using depth data, a parallax map (depth map) is acquired from a right-eye image and a left-eye image, for example, and a process is performed on the stereoscopic image using the acquired parallax map (depth map).
Specifically, one screen of a parallax map (depth map) can be acquired by using one or the other of the right-eye image or the left-eye image as a base image, calculating parallax, which is an amount of horizontal misalignment between a pixel and a pixel in another corresponding image (an image which is not the base image), for each pixel in the base image, and mapping the calculated parallax onto locations of pixels (locations in the image) corresponding to the parallax. Since range data (a depth value) for each pixel can be acquired by using the acquired parallax map (depth map), various processes corresponding to the range data (depth values) can be performed on pixels to be processed.
For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, an occlusion region can be detected and parallax of the occlusion region can be corrected using a parallax map (depth map).